District Geothermal
To search this forum for keywords, type your keywords in the "Forums Search" box on the right. To search specific forum topics, click the "Advanced Search" link on the right.
As interest levels in utilizing ground source geothermal continue to grow so do the sizes of the applications. Many schools are now considering how geothermal can be applied to multiple buildings. The advantages to this are the fact that one buildings waste can be another buildings food and by using the ground as a "flywheel" for energy storage, efficiencies can be gained and building load diversity can actually be a real positive in the overall efficiency of the system.
Forums Supporters
AASHE would like to thank and recognize the following organizations as official Campus Sustainability Discussion Forums Supporters.
This is Ron with Mithun. We just completed a LEED Godl buidling at Washington State University. Even though the campus in on a central heating system, we found it was cheaper to go geothermal than to extend the steam tunnel to the site. And the payback is very compelling. This gives us the opportunity to develop a whole geothermal district. The only problem is that we have having big problems getting the first building up and going with geothermal. Mostly running on emergency generators right now.
We are aslo experiencing this on campuses. And it goes beyond geo-thermal. We are working with several campuses helping them take a more global look at energy and water issues-among others. Up until recently sustainability has been thought of as a building by building strategy. Looking at the whole campus created synergies that have much bigger benefits. We are now starting to look at waste streams, habitat enhancement, food, transportation, etc. on a campus and district level.